Roger Ebert…film critic, journalist, and screenwriter, has
passed away at the age of 70.
Ebert was known for his film review column which ran in the
Chicago Sun-Times beginning in 1967, and for his television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene
Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel
and Ebert and The Movies, all of which he co-hosted with fellow critic Gene
Siskel. After Siskel’s death in 1999, Ebert would continue the show with
Richard Roeper in Ebert & Roeper
& The Movies.
He wrote more than 20 books, including his year-end annual
yearbook. In 1975, he became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize
for Criticism, and to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As of 2010,
his movie reviews were syndicated in more than 200 newspapers across the U.S.
and worldwide. He was outspoken against the MPAA film-rating system, skeptical
of 3D, and an advocate for filmmaking and projection at 48 frames-per-second.
He is a credited screenwriter on the 1970 schlock-melodrama film BEYOND THE
VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.
*
This Blogger has been arguing about, debating about, and
writing about movies his entire life. In every drunken (or sober) late-debate
about any film at any time, one way or another the name of Roger Ebert would
make its way into the conversation. It was always his opinion on a dispute
which provided a foundation for everything; what-did-Ebert-say was nearly
always the final word. The movies, you see, are more than just what appears on
screen; they are also about the people who love them…those people who are on
the other side of that screen; contributing in one form or another. Ebert wasn’t
just a part of that other side; he was the foundation for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
A few rules:
1. Personal attacks not tolerated.
2. Haters welcome, if you can justify it.
3. Swearing is goddamn OK.